Page 389 - 1970S

22
MIL E of rich silt f rom íts mouth every
single year.
T hrough the process of erosioo, the
United States has lost somewhere
between y, and Y2 of its total topsoil!
Yearly crops and pasturage take from
the soil 19,000,000 tons of rich min–
eral elements - calcium, phosphorus,
potash, sulfur, nitrogen. Yet, through
erosion alone, the United States loses
117,000,000 tons of mineral nutrients !
Even more important is the loss of
uncounted millions of tons of irreplace–
able humus, without which crops can–
oot use the mineral nutrieots.
You may be asking, "What does all
this have to do with our forests ?"
It has everything to do with forests.
Forests cover the soil with leaves.
Microbes, earthworms, and insects
decompose the leaves and work them
into the soil, making it porous, vastly
increasing its water-retaining capacity.
Thus the forests absorb the raiowater
and release it slowly enough to prevent
soil erosion. Forests regulate stream
flow and stabilize the soil's water table.
"The forest is the chief barrier to
floods and devastation through ero–
sien," said ooe authority on forestry.
"About half the agriculture land in the
United States has beco damaged by ero–
sien. Approximately 100 mill ion acres
have been ruined" (Trees and ForeJIJ.
by Stanley M. Jepsen, A. S. Barnes and
Company, New York, 1969, pages 129,
131).
Yet, less than 200 years ago, much of
the United States was virgin country –
Iuxurious and unspoilcd.
Forests of Waste
The story is one of tragic misuse. A
large portien of the cut trees were
111asted. Only the finest sections of trees
were taken to sawmills. Sometimes 73
of the entire tree was left lying on the
ground as "slash," or loggiog debris -
a tinderbox to kindle forest fires. The
forests were viewed as an UNENDING
RESOURCE that could never be depleted.
But depleted they were!
New York state, for example, origi–
nally had 30 mil/ion acres of magnifi–
cent timber. One observer comments on
wasted tirnber conditions in that state as
far back as 1933:
"This vast heritage is now but a
The PLAIN TRUTH
memorJ, practically all swept away. Leu
than one percml of virgin forest
remains" (foreJt Bankmptcy in Amer–
ica, by George P. Ahern, Green Lamp
League, 1933, p. 187).
Peonsylvan1a was at first called
Sylvania, meaning "woodland," from
Sylva, god of woods. Later, William
Peno gave a new prefix to the state's
name. During the 1860's Pennsylvania
was a leading timber-producing state.
This !asted only a short time, as it did
" The path of human activ–
ity has been marked by the
thoughtless destruction of
forest and vegetation."
- Korl Heinz Oedekovn, Forestry Speciolist,
Food ond Agricu/ture Orgoniz otion
with every other leading timber-produc–
ing state. Trees were cut without regard
to future generations. Soon the supply
was depleted.
In the Southern states, many stands
of virgin pine were cut, piled and
burned after the "Civil War Between
the States" to make way for cotton
fields. Today, Southern carpenters pre–
fer Northwestern fir for framing
because it is straighter and more work–
able than second-growth Southern pine.
But the Pacific Northwest timber is also
beiog rapidly used up.
Most states now depend on IMPORT·
ING LUMBER from other areas, where
supplies are shockingly low as well.
Originally, the United States had a
colossal 1072 million acres of forest.
Today "only 624 million acres remain;
of them, only 45 million are at all com–
parable to the original forests" (T1·ee1,
the Yearbook of Agricttlture, U. S.
Department of Agriculture, U. S. Gov–
ernment Printing Office, Washington,
D.C., p. 106).
That 45 million equals only about
4% of the original virgin timber in the
United States.
You may have heard that ctm·ently
growth DOES EXCEED the cutting rate.
But there is a rub. According to Dr.
Don Flora, of the U. S. Forest Service,
"This growth im't on the most desir–
able kinds of trees, nor is it in the best
places." Dr. Flora told PLAIN TRUTH
reportees, "Growth exceeds cut, but it's
Decembec 1970
not the kind of growth we'd Jike to
have."
Meanwhile, our exploding popu–
latioo is requiring goods, services and
products from the forest in a much
greater quantity.
Society's G luttonous D emands
Around the turn of the century, each
American uscd 50 pounds of paper in a
year's time. Today, 70 years later, each
American uses 1O times that amount, or
500 pounds of paper each year. To fur–
ther multiply the problem, it takes two
tons of u•ood to manufacture one ton of
paper. Just one Sunday edition of a
major U. S. newspaper ( 1 mi Ilion circu–
lation) may consume 80 or more acres
of trees!
But paper use is merely one of many
wood products being consumed or used
by Americans.
Our gluttonous needs for papee and
wood products have resulted in forest
monoculture - the giving over of areas
to the production of one species of tree.
The Douglas fir is a prime cxample
of this monoculture. This species is
presently in high demand all over the
United States for construction. Loggers
generally clear-cut sections of forest that
have Douglas fir, market the lumber
and reseed the land solely in this species
of tree.
What is the result of clear-cutting
(cutting all trees) and monoculture?
Cut a forest indiscriminately, and ecol–
ogy suffers.
Animal pop11lations explode!
In ao old forest of mature trees, a
square mile may support only two deer
in balance with other wildlife. Where
forests are cut and the land replanted
with seedlings, the population jumps
quickly to 48 deer per square mi le, with
many other species increasing in similar
proportions. This many animals in a
small area eat a Iot of tree seedlings.
Deer are not the only problem animals
in tbis animal population explosion.
Porcupine, gopher, rabbit, and elk are
also major problems to reforestation.
The studies of specific areas show quite
clearly that clear-cutting and reseeding,
with the consequent s!-..-yrocketing of
wildlife populations, is out of step with
ecology.
"Among management practices, clear–
cutting was a consistent precursor of